October 30, 2008 |

What a week it has been! If you didn’t get to DuBurns on Saturday, you missed a stellar night of championship derby with the Mobtown Mods capturing this season’s trophy. There was even a wedding! I know most of you my age and older think of the roller derby of yesteryear: campy, scripted and staged. Well derby still rocks the campy part, but the competition is as legit and fierce as it gets within the current rules for bouts (a lot more strict than you can imagine).

If you don’t believe in the legitimacy of today’s roller derby, I’ll continue to report from the inside through the winter. I attended league tryouts Tuesday after two months of practice and was lucky enough to make the league! When will you see me on the track, you say? The seriousness of the league will be evident in my blogs over the next few months. I’ve made the league but that does not make me eligible to skate in a bout. The Charm City Roller Girls have a very structured development system that begins with tryouts and ends with the four existing teams drafting players. Draftable players must meet the requirement of four stages of proficiency, almost like the belt system in karate and all designed with safety in mind.

To any of the girls who didn’t make it or have derby dreams and haven’t moved on it: keep moving forward. The entire league is there to help you succeed. I have never been in such a supportive sports environment. And, don’t forget – get your own skates!!

So, my winter will be devoted to building up “stars” to eventually be qualified for the draft at the end of winter.